Pop Century vs Art of Animation

[3babiesmom]

We are going on a short surprise trip for my daughter and I can not decide between Pop Century and Art of Animation. It's about a $300 difference which isn't too bad but I could buy park hoppers or a tour with that money. Thank for your help!

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

They're both great resorts, and with staying at either one, you have the benefit of being able to walk over to the other to explore, etc. That being said, I don't personally utilize park hoppers, and the tour would completely depend on which one you wanted to do. I thinking spending the extra to stay in a Little Mermaid room at AoA would be worth it to me.

 

[fla4fun]

I have stayed at both. I don't think you can go wrong with either. You just need to decide whether you want to splurge on the room (AoA) or splurge on something else (Pop). You do stand a better chance of being close to dining and transportation at Pop than AoA, since the LM rooms are the farthest from the lobby building, but in my opinion the resorts aren't so huge that it's a deal breaker.

 

[goofyintoronto]

The OP didnt specify whether the room at AoA would be a suite or the LM room. Im guessing its a suite since a LM room would definitely NOT cost $300 more than a room at pop. Correct me if im wrong though? But im pretty certain.

If you're thinking of a suite vs pop....the choice is easy. Pop. $300 is a lot of money! Like you said, you could spend the $300 on a dessert party or even a tour such as key to the kingdom at MK. I heard its pretty awesome. Considering the fact that you'll be at the parks for most of the time, splurging on a suite and spending $300 more makes no sense to me since you wont spend enough time there anyway. But thats just me. While at pop you can easily walk over to AoA and take pics of the grounds, eat at the food court even.

 

[hdrolfe]

We have stayed at both. We preferred POP simply because it seemed to be an easier walk to the main building. We found it quite far to walk from the Little Mermaid rooms. Honestly, they were both nice, but I'd save the money to spend on something else if it were me.

 

[pitpat]

how old is your daughter? the younger she is, the more I'd lean toward AoA. if she's a teenager or something, I'd save the $.

 

[fla4fun]

The OP didnt specify whether the room at AoA would be a suite or the LM room. Im guessing its a suite since a LM room would definitely NOT cost $300 more than a room at pop. Correct me if im wrong though? But im pretty certain.

She also didn't say how long the trip was, which makes it hard to guess. But considering Pop is usually included in room promotions and LM rooms aren't, I've seen as much as a $50 spread between the two, so it's possible that it's LM rooms. The suites would run about $200 difference per night (low $100's at Pop, low to mid $300's for AoA suite - if neither on sale), so I didn't think she was referring to a suite. I could be wrong though.

I agree the suites are great. I love the Cars section at AoA! But the budget doesn't always stretch that far . . .

 

[GunnarCharles]

I think both are great, hard to go wrong either way. If its me, I go with POP and get a park hopper just because I'm more likely to spend time at parks.

 

[Magical Excess]

We are going on a short surprise trip for my daughter and I can not decide between Pop Century and Art of Animation. It's about a $300 difference which isn't too bad but I could buy park hoppers or a tour with that money. Thank for your help!

After staying at Pop a couple times, I stayed with my tween daughters at AoA. While I thought AoA was worth the premium over Pop for the better pool, the food court, and the great theming, my kids preferred Pop. Unless you know your daughter is particularly interested in AoA, I'd pick Pop.

 

[mouserrificmom]

Unless your daughter would love the POOL and you plan to spend a lot of time in the Big Blue Pool, I would choose Pop and use the money for other things....you can easily walk over to AOA and enjoy all the resort offers, with the exception of the pool, while staying at Pop. $300 could easily be the difference between a PoP room and LM at AOA if you are talking length of stay . . .

 

[GoMegGo]

If you need a standard room, go for POP. The LM rooms aren't worth the increased price. Love the family suites, but unless you need them for capacity, save your money and stay at POP.

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

POP would be my choice --and we do like park hoppers because there isn't enough at Hollywood Studios to keep us there all day/evening..same for the Animal Kingdom( we love it and with the new attractions is may be different, but for us we are about done in 6 hrs or so)..we like being able to go to MK for "just a bit" or over to wander around WS at Epcot

 

[DISfirstTimer]

I am having the same deliema as OP. We will be staying off site at a 3BDRM Condo 2 miles from Disney for 7 days but we are planning on staying one prior onsite to kick off our vacation. My first desire is to stay in a Cars Suite at AOA (My husband works in the in automotive industry and has raced cars most of his life) due to preferred themeing and because Lil Mermaid rooms are so far. I think my kids will love this resort. Staying here won't kill our budget, however, I'm now thinking I should save $300 and stay at Pop Century and just walk over to AOA to enjoy the resort. (I know we can't use the pool). What do you recommend for a one day splurge!?!? How far of a walk is it?

 

[masylimed]

I am having the same deliema as OP. We will be staying off site at a 3BDRM Condo 2 miles from Disney for 7 days but we are planning on staying one prior onsite to kick off our vacation. My first desire is to stay in a Cars Suite at AOA (My husband works in the in automotive industry and has raced cars most of his life) due to preferred themeing and because Lil Mermaid rooms are so far. I think my kids will love this resort. Staying here won't kill our budget, however, I'm now thinking I should save $300 and stay at Pop Century and just walk over to AOA to enjoy the resort. (I know we can't use the pool). What do you recommend for a one day splurge!?!? How far of a walk is it?

I have stayed in a Cars AoA suite 3 times with various family members. Each time, we've had 5 adults in the room - either 5 actual adults or a combination of teenagers and adults. I personally loved the theming of the suites and found them to be quite spacious - especially with the 2 full bathrooms. We never felt on top of each other. I have found the Cars area to be quiet but close to the food court and bus stops. Loved the option of the quieter cozy cone pool but wasn't a far walk to the main pool We've also stayed at POP 3 times in the past. Really enjoyed the resort. If we were staying at just a regular room, we would pick POP over AoA simply because I wouldn't want to stay in the Little Mermaid rooms as they seems so far away from everything. If we were staying at a suite - would def. pick AoA with a preference for the Cars suites.